For the PRE-SAFE® precrash system from Mercedes-Benz, ad Agency Jung von Matt in Germany made chaotic traffic intersections safer.
Everybody was able to look around the corners into the streets as if the walls were transparent, and could therefore detect potential hazards in time to avoid them. To achieve this, they used a camera to film what was going on around the corner. The images were then projected onto a 18/1-format billboard on a building corner so all motorists and cyclists could see them.
BGH Air Conditioners in Argentina wanted to promote their new line of silent air conditioners. So agency Del Campo Nazca Saatchi & Saatchi came up with a whacky integrated advertising campaign called “Big Nose”.
Together they created the nose-o-meter, an in-store device capable of measuring noses. If your nose was big enough to touch the sensor, an alarm would go off and one could win a 25 percent discount!
At www.bignosebgh.com online visitors could upload their profile picture, in order to find out if their nose was big enough to win. The site also indicated where shoppers could find the nearest nose-o-meter to get a shot at the discount.
On the 26th November 2010 Fredrik Hjelmquist, CEO of Pause Home Entertainment, swallowed a specially made wireless sound system in order to transform himself to a Human Jukebox. The device was then controlled wirelessly, allowing anyone to play music inside of him by simply visiting his company’s website and picking a track.
With this stunt, Swedish agency Akestam Holst was able to establish that when it comes to custom sound systems by Pause Home Entertainment, anything was possible! 🙂
Every year in Poland, more women die because of breast cancer than in car accidents, because of late diagnostics. Most women know and perform – although not regularly – breast self-examination. They perceive this technique as sufficient for breast cancer diagnosis. They think further examinations are not required. That’s why only a few sign up for mammogram scanning.
The Polish Federation of Cancer Survivors therefore wanted to change this perception by communicating “What a person can miss the machine will find”. Stressing that mammogram scanning is by far better and more accurate in diagnosing breast cancer, and that women should use it on a regular basis.
So ad agency, Euro RSCG Warsaw came up with a unique way to draw women’s attention to the “breast issues” at the most appropriate moment i.e. when buying a bra and in the place where they would never expect this kind of communication. The mechanics of the action explained by itself the way a mammogram test works in a very simple but suggestive way: the gate beeps when you pass by and it turns out there is something in the bag you would not expect to have. Thanks to the information printed on the tag, women were able to quickly and easily make an appointment for a mammogram scan.
The initiative was supported by the Federation of Amazonki, the Ministry of Health and the Oncology Center in Warsaw. H&M in central Warsaw participated by hosting the event as it had a wide range of customers with different ages…from teenagers to women being 50-60 years old.
There were 330 tags given away in 2 days and the website was visited by 1,650 unique visitors, strongly indicating the word of mouth power of the action. The number of phone calls increased 10% in comparison with the before-action results. Post-action effect continue when women visit other stores and hear the beeping.
Thousands of Hong Kong’s alternative music fans crave the raw energy, focus, passion and participation of a live performance. Zoo Records, Hong Kong’s most celebrated alternative music store faced the challenge to bring this live experience directly to the fans.
Zoo Records with Leo Burnett Hong Kong created a campaign called “Hidden Live” that went on to became the world’s first live mobile music festival!
As a result more than 10,000 people packed into the festival each night and countless more got involved as constant clips were shared online. Zoo Records sold out 80 percent of the albums for those eight performing bands. But most importantly, alternative music came alive in tens of thousands of venues all over Hong Kong.
Romania’s Rom, manufactured by Kandia Dulce, is a traditional chocolate bar that all Romanians have grown up with. Wrapped in the national flag, it has an aging and nostalgic consumer base. However with the young generation Romanians it was losing ground as they preferred cool American brands.
To tackle the problem, McCann Erickson Bucharest came up with the ‘American Rom Takeover’ campaign. They challenged the young Romanian national ego by replacing Rom’s packaging with an American version. It was a very risky deception! But it was hugely successful and since then has won McCann Erickson the Grand Prix in the Promo & Activation Lions at Cannes International Festival of Creativity.
Drinks giant Ambev aimed to reduce high rates of drinking and driving in Brazil. So with agency Almap BBDO, they came up with a unique Antarctica beer ‘breathalyzer’ campaign. The campaign in a very unique and engaging way showed the young people of Brazil how their judgement skills got affected by alcohol.
Video screens were placed in bars where a normal looking girl invited the customers to take the breath test by breathing into the machine. If they passed, they could go, but if the machine detected alcohol, the girl on the screen would transform into a gyrating, seductive beauty and the machine would spit out a discount voucher for a taxi company. 😆
Boondoggle Amsterdam came up with a campaign for Nike that made running less serious. They distracted youngsters from their boring running schedules and challenged them to release their creativity on Amsterdam by using their feet as paint instead!
A Facebook app called ‘Take Mokum’ (Amsterdam’s local nickname) was developed that allowed runners to make digital graffiti’s on the map of Amsterdam. All they had to do was actually run the route and upload their KMs with Nike+. The app would then paint the graffiti for them. These graffiti’s could then be shared, and liked fanatically. The result? Young Amsterdam starting running and Nike’s mission to change running was actually experienced by youngsters.
Continuing MTV’s “The Music Never Stops” campaign, Loducca Brazil created these clever placemats that kept diners at a sushi restaurant extra busy with their chopsticks. 🙂
South Korea is a unique market. Even the most powerful global corporations tend to fail miserably in the Korean market. Walmart and Carrefour had to pack up their bags and leave. On the contrary, Tesco has been evolving itself, adjusting to the local market. It even changed the name itself, from Tesco to Homeplus! And at last, it grew to rank No. 2 in Korea! But Tesco had to overcome one obstacle? A fewer number of stores compared to the number one company, E-mart.
Agency Cheil Korea came up with the idea to bring the store to the people! They created virtual stores in subway station hoping to blend into people’s everyday lives. Their first try was busy subway station in rush hours. Although virtual, the displays were exactly the same as actual stores – from the display to merchandises. Only one thing was different, you could use smart phones to shop! Scan the QR code with your phone, and the product automatically would land into your on-line cart! When the online purchase was done, it would be delivered to your door right after you get home.
As a result people could meet Tesco Homeplus wherever they go, not having to visit the actual store. Moreover they could make good use of the wasted times and enjoy their free time. After this campaign, on-line sales increased tremendously (Nov 2010 – Jan 2011). Through this campaign, 10,287 consumers visited the online Homeplus mall using smartphones. The number of new registered members rose by 76%, and on-line sales increased 130%. Homeplus became the No.1 on-line market and is a very close 2nd offline.
